Operation Yellow Brick Road
by canny-bairn
Summary: Garcia wants results and nobody is going to get in her way. Follow up to 'Didn't We Almost Have It All' and 'On The Same Page.'
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer – I own nothing related to Criminal Minds.**

**Hi everyone who is giving this story a chance.**

**This is the new fic set directly after 'On The Same Page' and 'Didn't We Almost Have It All?" **

**I'm not sure how long this going to be, I think it will depend on if people like it. It will be updated frequently but not as quickly as the previous two fics.**

**So if you have any thoughts about what you want to see or if you just want to say hi, leave me a review. **

...

JJ entered the small cafe blocks away from her home, stunned to find her two colleagues chuckling away in the corner of the room.

The last time she had seen her BAU sisters, they had been unbearably smug and mocking her about the tale she and Hotch had revealed about their past relationship. The blonde profiler fixed a warm smile and calmed her sudden nerves, as she approached the table. "You're both here early."

"So?" Garcia asked as she and Prentiss waited until JJ took a seat opposite them.

JJ swallowed at the sight of their expectant gazes. "So, what?"

"We know what you and Hotch got up to last night." The TA announced with a knowing smirk.

"Excuse me?" JJ blinked quickly in shock.

Prentiss nudged Garcia to continue in amusement of their young friend's heated blush crossing her cheeks. "Hotch called Rossi last night to postpone when they were supposed to meet up. Apparently, he was spending the night at a friend's house. Rossi, the old devil, managed to get our esteemed leader to reveal your name."

"Why are the men on this team such big gossips?" JJ asked rhetorically.

"OMG! It's true?" Garcia squeaked.

"We went to the zoo with the boys and had dinner together. We talked about old times once the boys went to bed. We had a glass of wine together and I went to my own bed and Hotch slept on the couch." JJ explained pointedly at her excited colleagues.

The two friends glanced at each other sceptically. "That's it?"

"There was a kiss," Garcia yelped in joy only to be instantly hushed by the former liaison's next words, "but that's it. We agreed it was best for everyone involved, that we kept things easy and stayed as friends and colleagues."

Garcia shook her head adamantly. "You can't do that. You love each other."

The single mom sighed apologetically in attempt to quell her guilt. "Loved Pen, what we told you was about our past. We were different people then."

"JJ." The flamboyant woman whined.

"No, Penelope. Hotch and I, aren't going to be playing along with your little, rose tinted fantasy. We have the boys to think about and work. We're colleagues and there're rules." JJ countered with a small shrug of her shoulders.

"Neither of you cared about the rules ten years ago." Prentiss interjected.

JJ eyed her brunette friend pleadingly. "He wasn't my direct supervisor then and we weren't as connected to our careers or as close to our team."

Garcia groaned in dissatisfaction. "Rossi can deal with Strauss and we're all totally supportive..."

"Pen, please. It's been a long few days. Can't we just have brunch and forget what we told you on Friday?" She pleaded to no avail.

"Not in this lifetime, sweet cheeks." Garcia quipped with pursed lips.

JJ eyed the other profiler at the table hopefully. "What do I have to do to change the topic of conversation?"

"How was the kiss?" Emily smiled deviously.

Garcia sat up straight in the wicker chair with a grin on her face. "Ooooh, what a good question Miss Prentiss."

"Seriously?" JJ's eyes widened upon realisation that she had no support at the table.

Garcia rolled her eyes at her best friend's reluctance. "Come on JJ, tell Emily the answer to her question, then answer one of mine and we'll move on and have bagels."

Resignedly, JJ sighed before speaking. "It was..."

"That good?" Prentiss smirked as her younger friend's blush darkened.

She returned the smirk knowingly. "It was better than I remembered."

"See, it was a sign that you two should get back together." Garcia stated wistfully.

"Pen..."

Waving her hands in the air, the TA puffed in annoyance. "Yeah yeah, rules schmules, everything is in the past, blah blah. I get it."

"It's just better for everyone this way." JJ implored solemnly.

"Fine, answer my question before we order brunch." Garcia's expression turned mischievous. "How's Aaron Hotchner in bed?"

...

Seattle, November 2002

They were sitting in a bar inside an upscale Seattle Hotel that the Bureau was reluctantly paying for. JJ took a deep breath as a tipsy Aaron Hotchner started to circle her wrist with his fingers. Throughout the long case, he'd seemed so uptight and serious but now she was seeing a totally different, flirty side of the stoic former profiler.

"Did you always want to join Harris' unit in New York, JJ?" He asked almost huskily.

Softly smiling as they both were leaning in towards each other, with their knees touching under the table, rather unnecessary in the quiet corner of the bar that they were sitting in. "No, but then again I didn't really have a choice."

"Why not?" Hotch shifted his hold on the blondes thin wrist to move a fallen lock of hair behind her ear and smirked at her lustful gaze on him. "Erm, well...the unit screwed up a case, the media caught wind of what had happened and I was assigned to help deal with the backlash, fresh out of the academy. The Beaumont Case is technically my first investigative case."

"That's some job for a newbie. Being outsourced to liaise on a joint investigation and having to deal with likes of me. And that's after dealing with PR nightmare in New York." He praised with a darkened gaze.

"They needed someone who appeared sweet and innocent to be the face of the whole messed up thing." JJ rolled her eyes, the profiler sensing some resentment at the fact she believed she was chosen for her looks and not her ability.

"Are you?" Hotch chuckled hoarsely as her expression became confused from his question.

"Am I what?"

He raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "Are you really sweet and innocent?"

"I guess you'll just have to find out, won't you?" The liaison stood up, taking her coat off the back of the chair. She stopped to watch Hotch finished his scotch in one mouthful and stood up himself. They were both smiling as his hand found her lower back and stayed there until they left the bar together.

The ride in the elevator was silent and they remained in the comfortable quietness as he followed her along the corridor, keeping his hand gently on her back.

Seconds later the two FBI agents, were stumbling through JJ's hotel room door. Hotch had the petite blonde backed up against the wall before the door shut.

They were both tipsy after their post case drinks, but more than happily aware of what was going on. It had been a tough week and while they hadn't necessarily got off to the best start, by the time they had drank their third drink the two agents knew exactly how this night was going to end.

Wrapping her legs around his narrow hips, Hotch leveraged her lithe frame higher up the wall so they were eye level. Their lips were entangled after meeting with bruising force while JJ attempted to rid Hotch of his jacket and tie. When the items fell to the floor her attention turned blindly to opening his crisp white shirt.

Breaking for air, Hotch's focus went to JJ's perfumed scented neck. "Oh god! I don't usually do things like..."

JJ stopped speaking as his hand ventured further up her thigh he interrupted breathing heavily, "I won't tell anyone. I promise."

Tearing his head from the top of her breasts, JJ smirked as he pouted, "I'm not the kind of woman who will hook up with men from work...I have rules...but...God, I really want you..." Seeing his eyes rise in surprise, JJ giggled as he leaned forwards and kissed her gently, deviating from the rough and passionate touches they had experienced over the past few minutes. "The bed's through there."

Looking in the direction her head had tilted towards, Hotch grinned at her bold direction, lifting her weight from the wall and carrying her into the bedroom neither took their eyes off the other. "For the record, this isn't something I normally do either. But it's been a long week and you're incredibly hot."

They laughed as he placed her softly on the half made bed. "Damn, this going to be top of the list of things I regret doing in the morning, isn't it?"

JJ's gaze turned serious as he climbed on top of her with finesse, as he kept his weight from crushing her. Caressing her cheek softly, Hotch's other hand feathered down her side resting on her knee, arching it so he could fit into the V of her now separated legs, while softly placing a kiss on her lips.

JJ groaned feeling the impact of his lustful gaze rush through her entire body. "God, I'm definitely going to regret this in the morning."

This time when he leaned down to kiss her again she met him halfway, the fierceness of the kiss growing in intensity as it continued.

As the night went on, the newness of each other's bodies took them both to new heights, and at some point in under the blanket of darkness, they became increasingly aware that this was something they couldn't just let go as a one night stand.

The shrill sound of a cell phone ringing against the tranquil bliss of the comfortable silence that emanated in the room stirred them both from their peaceful sleep.

Realising the noise was coming from his cell, Hotch carefully moved his arms from around JJ's stomach, where they must have stayed after wrapping them around her when he pulled her back into his chest a few hours earlier.

The rays of light entering the room through the blinds created a golden haze but the sight of JJ's naked form shifting as she found the covers, caught his attention more than taking in his surroundings.

Reaching for his trousers, he fumbled as he searched the pockets until he found his cell moaning when he noted his second in command's name flashed across the screen.

Running his hand through his thick black hair, Hotch practically sighed when he answered. "Hotchner...now? Yeah okay...no I understand. Get Boulder and McKenzie up to date I'll meet you at the scene."

Turning back to the bed he saw JJ smiling sadly up at him through sleepy eyes. "You got to go?"

"Unfortunately. Another body has shown up. Looks like the case isn't as over as we thought it was."

"Oh." JJ sat up reaching for her robe lying haphazardly on the floor next to the bed as Hotch turned his attention to his worn clothes at the bottom of the bed. She watched him dress in silence stealing appreciative glances at each other as they moved around the room before making out into the living space.

"JJ, I hope you don't feel bad what happened between us, because last night..." Seeing him struggle with his words as they stood in doorway between the bathroom and the bedroom, JJ smirked before walking up to him.

She softly kissed his lower lip nibbling slightly as he wrapped his arms around her waist deepening the kiss as they both moaned at the now familiar contact.

"Call me if you need me to deal with the press. I'm sure Agent Harris will want an update anyway, at some point today. So..." Placing her warm hands on his cheeks JJ rose on to the balls of her feet to give him another kiss before pulling away and stepping aside to let him passed.

Hotch nodded stopping himself from opening the door. "Thank you for understanding."

"I know what the job can be like Aaron. Besides, last night was fun and I can give you some leeway for having a genuine reason for leaving instead of just silently creeping out on me"

"You are definitely not someone who should be crept out on." Determinedly walking up to her, Hotch leant down stealing another kiss before letting his hand fall to her waist and resting his forehead on hers. "I'll see you later."

"You know where to find me." They smiled before Hotch turned leaving JJ to her empty hotel room both found it extremely difficult to wipe the smiles that they had attached to their faces.

...

Present Day

Prentiss whistled loudly. "Woah."

"Yeah." JJ shivered after recalling the first time she had been with Aaron Hotchner, something she had never discussed with anyone other than the BAU's team leader.

"Was it always that..?" Prentiss stopped unable to find the right words to describe the scene her friend had just recounted.

"Intense? Explosive? Passionate? Yeah, every time." JJ smiled longingly. "But he was always considerate and exceptionally talented in that area of our relationship."

Garcia fanned herself with the laminated menu in front of her. "So why don't you want to experience that again?"

"Because I'm not 25 anymore." JJ scoffed lightly before turning serious. "We've been through so much since then and I'm not sure I can put myself through that kind of all consuming relationship again, never mind putting Aaron and everyone else through it."

...

**Thanks for reading!**

**Side note – I may have unknowingly plagiarised my own work, so if any of this seems familiar it's because I use pieces out of unpublished drabbles for my fics sometimes and I can't remember if I used any of this in other stories. So in case I did (hopefully I didn't), let's forget about that and read on for 100% new chapter **

**Hope you enjoyed it anyway...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimed!**

**Thanks to everyone who is taking the time to read, review and follow. Reading your reviews encourage me to write, so thank you for all your kind words and cyber hugs, MaddieNicole ****. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**There isn't any JJ or Hotch but there's plenty of talk about them.**

**Let me know what you think...**

...

Prentiss wandered into the bullpen on Monday morning with a feeling of unease. Her alarm hadn't done its job that morning, so she had been running later than normal.

Looking around the office, she realised the BAU A team (as Garcia had named them) were nowhere in sight, causing her stomach to roll with nerves over what she was missing out on.

Within a few steps, the brunette profiler arrived at her desk and organised her belongings into the secure filing cabinet while balancing the tea in her go-cup in her other hand.

Glancing around the quiet office space, Prentiss swallowed her ever present anxious feelings before checking her phone to make sure she hadn't missed any messages.

Usually if there was a case, everyone would have been summand by email or a phone call and if they had a late start to the day a few of them would have had breakfast together. "So where is everyone?" She asked herself under her breath.

"Is everything okay, Agent Prentiss?" Anderson interrupted the worried profiler, causing her to jump.

Emily chewed her lower lip as she stared at the resident analyst and well known Garcia gossip provider. "Actually, no. Have you seen the rest of the team?"

"Agent Hotchner is upstairs in the Chief's meeting and the rest of the team are in Agent Morgan's office, I believe." He replied with a smile.

Prentiss smiled at herself in stupidity for her over active imagination. "Oh of course, thanks Anderson."

Satisfied that the work on her desk could be left for a few more minutes, the half awake agent was walking towards the main bulk of offices down the corridor past the old Communication Coordinator's office, when the sound of loud familiar voices stopped her in her tracks.

"They're meant to be!" Garcia's voice floated along the deserted passageway. "Seriously, any idiot can see JJ and Hotch have chemistry."

Rossi growled loudly. "I'm not arguing that, I'm just saying..."

The TA's high pitched squeak could be heard echoing down the hallway into the lobby area. "But they're the epic romance of the Unit. They're Anthony and Cleopatra, Tristan and Isolde. They're the Ross and Rachel of the group. They're Superman and Lois Lane, they..."

Prentiss entered the profiler's office and quickly admonished the group. "Guys, we're supposed to keep quiet about this, remember. I can hear this discussion down by JJ's old office."

"Emily, will you please tell these morons that it is our duty to get our gumdrop and boss man back together." Garcia huffed.

Rossi rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Will you please tell our crazy Technical Analyst that JJ and Hotch don't want us interfering?"

"Did none of you hear me about keeping your voices down?" Prentiss hissed as she closed the door behind her with a bang. "It's bad enough if any gossipmongers like Anderson or one of the other analysts hear us talking about JJ and Hotch, but what if Strauss was on the prowl? If Hotch came this way you'd all be facing an angry tirade of biblical proportions. Or worse, what if JJ heard you four meddling?"

The three male profilers blanched at the thought of JJ busting their balls again.

However Garcia just shook her head adamantly. "Meddling? Emily Anne Prentiss, I do not meddle. I fix atrocities that never should have happened. Atrocities like Hotch and JJ breaking up eight years ago. I can rectify this. We can rectify this."

"Baby girl, it's time to move on." Morgan stated finally.

Garcia stared at him dryly. "Derek, with all due respect, no."

"Morgan is right, Garcia. Hotch and JJ are very private people. We wouldn't want to push them into a personal relationship when they specifically told us that we're confidants and not to get involved in their personal lives." Reid concluded.

"But they're the worst at relationships. They need our help." The stubborn TA whined.

"Feelings change, Mama. Maybe they don't want a relationship." Morgan countered with a pointed glare.

Rossi barked back a laugh. "I might think we should keep ourselves to ourselves, but they definitely want each other."

"Thank you." The computer whiz sighed in glee.

"Really, man, don't encourage her." Morgan retorted to the elder profiler's statement.

Garcia crossed her arms and eyed her less than enthusiastic friend. "Excuse me?"

"JJ is your best friend, Garcia. You know her better than anyone and she would not..." He began to argue.

She interrupted with a nod. "Exactly, I know what's good for her before she even knows what is good for her."

"You thought Will was perfect for JJ." Morgan continued in his mission to dissuade the blonde firecracker.

"Only because she withheld some pretty important, relationship information." Garcia huffed. "How was I to know she was secretly longing for our main man?"

Rossi smiled in amusement at his young friend's argument. "I know Aaron. He wants JJ but..."

"See, Hotch wants JJ." Garcia said simply. "We just have to convince JJ to want Hotch again. Hotch is easy to manipulate in this area, even Rossi managed to get him to make a move on Beth. But manipulating the team manipulator is going to be difficult. But it can be done, if we're in this together."

"I don't know, this isn't exactly the same as getting Hotch to start dating again. They have a complicated past and they've worked hard at becoming friends." Prentiss sighed uncomfortably.

"Prentiss, you heard what JJ said. It's firework explosive, hotly intense and oh, so passionate between them." She elaborated with moans and groans.

Morgan's eyes widened showing he was impressed. "She said all of that?"

"She also said she didn't want to get hurt anymore." Prentiss countered.

"Which I totally understand, but this is Hotch we're talking about. Hotch, the most respectable, safe and loving gentleman. He could be with JJ, the sweetest, kindest, gorgeous gumdrop there is. Hotch and JJ together would be so good."

"Garcia we don't disagree with you, we just don't want to push them into something they're not ready for." Rossi explained diplomatically.

"We could call them Hotaeu. Jartchner. Jarotch. Jaaron. Jenron. HotJJ. Jotch." Garcia rambled. "I'll come up with something better later, this is more important than cute couple names. They could be so happy together."

Prentiss eyed the eccentric woman before continuing on. "But you can understand why JJ is being cautious. I mean they went through a lot together."

Reid nodded in understanding. "There is evidence in the recounting of their separation to suggest that JJ's reluctance to embark on a committed relationship with the opposite sex, is to do with the emotional toil and damage done to her ego after that affair. I mean they were obviously open about their relationship when they lived in Seattle yet, JJ has never willing discloses any of her personal relationships to us, accept her last relationship... and even telling us about Will took over a year and he's the father of her child. Considering that we're a close knit unit of friends, you would have thought a generally warm and social person such as JJ would be more secure of discussion in this area."

"Exactly, my little genius. It could take years for them to get their asses into gear. We're just helping them push forward the timeline a little." Garcia added innocently.

Prentiss chewed her thumb nail nervously. "I still don't know."

"Okay you all have doubts, I can see that." She bargained slowly.

"Finally." Morgan and Prentiss muttered quietly.

"Let's just see how they interact today. If you honestly think that by the time the day is over that we shouldn't intervene, I will drop this whole thing." The blonde analyst said definitively.

"And what happens when she sees what we already know, kitten?" Rossi asked hesitantly.

Garcia beamed. "Well then, Operation Yellow Brick Road begins."

"Operation Yellow Brick Road?" Morgan looked at her dubiously.

"Are you being serious Derek?" She stared at him in ridicule.

"Nobody gets it?" When everyone looked at her in confusion, the eccentric tech sighed in heartfelt before explaining. "In the Wizard of Oz, what's at the end of the Yellow Brick Road? The Emerald City. The Emerald City is the nickname of which large city in the Pacific North-West, oh yeah, Seattle. Where did JJ and Hotch fall magically in love? Seattle! That's the love we want to get back for them. We want them back on the road to falling in love with each other, hence Operation Yellow Brick Road."

There was a mumble of recognition around the room.

Garcia narrowed her eyes at the group. "What would you call our operation?"

"Operation Lovers-Reunite?" Rossi suggested.

Morgan grinned widely. "Operation Bowchickabowwow."

"Operation Buttinsky." Prentiss interjected with a mutter.

"Oh hush, it's Operation Yellow Brick Road and that's that." Garcia stomped her foot with finality.

The profiler's looked at each other curiously. "Now what?"

"Now, we do what you profiler's do best." She grinned mischievously at them. "We observe the interactions of our prey."

"This is really creepy." Prentiss mumbled.

Garcia swatted her brunette's arm with the back of her hand. "Oh hush."

"They're going to be expecting us to intervene." Reid added knowingly.

Shaking her head confidently, Garcia's smile widened predatorily. "No sweet cheeks, they're going to expect me and my Italian Stallion here to intervene. They'll guess Morgan will be drafted in, that leaves you two."

"I don't like that look Penelope." The Ambassador's daughter gulped nervously.

"Before I divulge the details of Operation Yellow Brick Road further, we need intel." Garcia said in a hushed voice. "We also, all need to be aware of the dangers and consequences of participating in this mission."

"You're taking this way too seriously, baby girl." Morgan quipped.

"Good, because this is serious." Garcia stared at her friend in ridicule. "The happiness of our friends, are relying on our ability to carry out Operation YBR without fail. It may mean compromising ourselves like never before and placing ourselves in the line of fire but in the name of all that is holy, we shall succeed."

Morgan eyed the rest of his colleagues silently before opening his mouth. "Okay, calm down crazy lady. We're in."

"You are?" Garcia squeaked.

There was collective nodding around the team. "Yes."

Rossi interjected quickly. "But you have to let us reel you back in when you start planning weddings out of nowhere."

"That's your area of expertise Agent Rossi." She retorted with a snort.

"As long as you give us a day to make sure we're doing the right thing, I'll consider being a part of this craziness." Prentiss added worriedly.

She stared at each of the profilers for a respective moment. "I didn't think it would be that easy."

"You're scarily persuasive." Morgan clarified with a smug smile.

Garcia's eyes raised in disbelief. "I am?"

"That's one thing to call it." Prentiss whispered under her breath.

"Well then." Garcia beamed brightly before edging to the door. "Do me a favour, don't open the last email I sent you all."

"What's in the email, kitten?" Rossi asked in humour.

She smiled innocently. "Just some encouragement for you all to join my cause."

"Garcia." The four profilers exclaimed cohesively.

"I swear to Hephaestus, the Greek God of Technology and blacksmiths that I will go into my office right now and delete all of the images I sent out." She exited the room with a twirl, avoiding the daggers the eyes of the team mates were throwing her.

Prentiss nudged Rossi with her elbow. "How did she get hired?"

"I don't think the recruiters had any choice in the matter." Rossi answered with a grin.

Garcia's stopped clip clopping down the corridor suddenly. "I CAN HEAR YOU GUYS!"

...

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimed!**

**Happy Good Friday/Easter to those of faith, Happy Chocolate Weekend everyone else! **

**I hope you're all enjoying the story so far.**

**Let me know what you think.**

**...**...

JJ decided that she was paranoid.

Every time her mind wandered and she found her gaze landing on the Unit Chief's closed office door, the profiler's sitting at the desks around her seemed to smirk knowingly. Every time she stood up from behind her desk, she felt like the whole bullpen was watching her every move, waiting for her to make contact with the department supervisor.

She just had to breathe out loudly and the room seemed to silence.

After Prentiss asked her if she was okay, for the third time that morning, the blonde profiler had had enough.

"I'm fine." She managed to say through gritted teeth.

Pulling away from her desk in one swift movement, JJ stood and made a quick exit towards the Agent's private facilities at the other side of the interrogation rooms.

Entering the female changing rooms, she turned and walked into the toilets. Grateful that the stalls were empty, JJ stared at herself in the mirror to figure out why the entire floor seemed interested in her actions.

The team had promised Hotch during briefing, that anything discussed outside of work would remain outside the office, so she didn't expect anyone else in the department to have knowledge of her past relationship with the stoic supervisor.

Leaning into the counter, JJ mumbled at her reflection. "You work with profilers and trained agents and the like; they all know something is up with the team. Reid and Prentiss are practically throwing you smirks at you every two seconds and Pen is on cloud nine."

She took in a frustrated breath. "You're just on edge. You didn't want to tell them anything and considering that you have just told them something you've kept to yourself for eight years, you're waiting for them to do something about what they know."

JJ grumbled quietly. "Now they've got you talking to yourself."

Washing her hands underneath the cool water, the profiler shook her head. "Forget it. Everything is fine. Nothing has changed."

A small cough came from the doorway, startling the FBI agent. "Who are you talking too?"

"No-one... I'm just... thinking... out loud." She admitted quietly to her brunette friend.

Prentiss smirked at her smugly. "You seem a little off."

JJ smiled tightly. "I am completely fine, really."

"Did you have a long night?" The experience profiler pressed on in humour.

She straightened defensively. "No. Why?"

"You look a little, I don't know, tired." She said with a smirk.

JJ eyed her friend in frustration. "Just spit it out Em."

"Did you and Hotch spend any more time together yesterday?" Prentiss queried aloof.

"He dropped Henry off around 5. The four of us had dinner and then he took Jack home." The blonde agent explained with a shrug.

"No more kissing?" Prentiss pursed her lips to hide her amusement.

"No." JJ sighed loudly. "I told you, Hotch and I are just friends. You guys have seriously got to drop whatever it is you're up to."

Prentiss stepped aside as JJ strode to the door. "Why do you think we're up to something?"

JJ turned in the door way and looked at her friend of the last six years knowingly. "Penelope Garcia and David Rossi have juicy gossip, they're not going to sit idly by and do nothing with it. It goes against everything Garcia stands for."

"She just wants you two to be happy. We all do." Prentiss placed her hands on JJ's shoulder and guided through the changing rooms and back her into the sparse corridor.

Chuckling, JJ shook her head in humour of the situation. "That's nice of you guys, but Hotch and I are adults, who can make our own decisions."

"I know that." Prentiss added.

Stopping in the middle of the hallway, JJ turned to face her brunette colleague once more. "Please don't let her get carried away. We only told you all because I had been drinking alcohol on an empty stomach and couldn't come up with an excuse for Hotch's behaviour during the case."

"You're making yourself paranoid. Nothing is going on." Prentiss assured confidently.

In disbelief, JJ raised her eyes. "Right, nothing is going on."

"Hey, what are you two doing back here?" Hotch called out from behind them.

"I'll let you guys, catch up." Prentiss swerved to see their Unit Chief approaching them before pointing along the path to the lobby and bullpen, "I'm just going back to... my desk. See you in there."

JJ watched her best friend almost skip down the corridor before meeting Hotch's eyes. "I needed a break from the computer screen. Where are you coming from?"

"I had to sign off on Granger's prisoner transfer." He signalled to the file in his hand before frowning at her pale appearance. "Are you alright?"

"I guess I'm a little unnerved." She shudder involuntarily.

He chuckled lightly at her dire expression. "So they know about our life together before the BAU. It's not the worst thing in the world."

"I know that, but..." JJ shook her head in frustration that he knew her inner uncertainties. "We've all been friends for so long and now that everyone knows, I'm worried this will change the group and how we all work together."

"That's not going to happen. They might joke around with us but knowing that we once dated isn't going to change the dynamics of the group." Hotch reaffirmed his words from the previous evening.

The younger profiler looked away unsurely. "You don't know that."

"JJ, everything is going to be fine, trust me." Hotch comforted by placing his hand on her arm before pulling away quickly, when he realised where they were standing.

"What if word gets out to Strauss or someone else in the top brass?" JJ asked worriedly.

Hotch tilted his head to the side as he spoke. "The news that two agents from different field offices dated a decade ago, isn't exactly significant these days."

Agent Granger entered the corridor from the direction Hotch had come, nodding silently as he passed the two agents.

Sensing the man's curiosity as to why the two profilers were standing in the middle of the corridor, JJ sighed in irritation before turning on her heel to make her way back to the bullpen, the same way Granger was heading.

Hotch fell into step with the petite woman, smothering his smirk at her unease.

Catching the look of bemusement on his face, JJ whispered harshly. "But we're not agents from different field offices anymore. We work together now, in one of the most elite units in the Bureau. You're now my direct boss and our team appear to be distracted with curiosity of our past life together."

Hotch stopped them in the BAU lobby before they could walk through the heavy glass doors and into the bullpen without a care of who saw or heard them, as they stared at each other. "They're not distracted they're just finding humour in our discomfort. All of this will blow over the minute Garcia finds a new pet project to take over."

"When do you think that's going to be?" JJ asked almost pleadingly.

Hotch smiled warmly. "I don't know but until then, don't worry, okay? You're going to make yourself ill."

"It's easier said than done." JJ glanced into the bullpen to find Reid, Prentiss and Rossi doing their best to not to be discovered as they watched the two agents talk. "Great."

Hotch smirked as Rossi and Reid turned suddenly to go to their own workspace while Prentiss made an exhibition of typing her computer keyboard. "I can talk to them and I'll even give them my famous back off glare. I'll stress the importance of remaining professional in the office and not over stepping their boundaries in our personal lives. I think they already know all of that but if it makes you feel better, I will talk to them again."

"Like how you talked to Rossi on Saturday?" JJ questioned with sarcasm lacing her voice.

"I don't know to what you're referring to." He retorted with angelic innocence.

JJ eyed him mockingly. "How do you think Garcia and Prentiss knew you'd spent the night at my place?"

"When you recounted your Sunday brunch story, I assumed it was because you told them." He retorted dryly.

"Please, I was going for the whole nothing happened, we're just friend's route and they weren't having any of it." She sighed in exasperation.

"So you then just had to tell them about the kiss?" He prompted smugly.

"Did you tell Dave?" JJ countered with another question.

"That's not what's important here." Hotch stated firmly before opening the Bureau emblazoned door for Anderson who was walking towards them with a heavy box.

JJ stepped back to allow Anderson passed and rolled her eyes. "Riiiight."

"After you." Hotch offered politely.

JJ saw their colleagues watching them again causing her to mumble underneath her breath as she passed Hotch to enter the office space. "Wuss."

Hotch chuckled lowly before they parted at JJ's desk. JJ watched him enter his own office before picking up the abundance of notes and files that had appeared during her little break.

Prentiss rolled her chair back slightly to catch JJ's eye line. "Is everything better now?"

"I'm good Prentiss, but thanks for asking." The former liaison smiled appreciatively before carrying on with organising her desk top.

"Okay then, no problem." She retorted with a small smile.

Prentiss subtly opened her cell phone and opened a new message. Attaching the numbers of her four teammates, she took a final reassuring glance to her best friend, sitting to her side. '_Op. YBR: I'm in.'_

Within seconds a reply came back from the groups ring leader. 'YEY! _Operation Yellow Brick Road is a GO, my pretties_.'

**...**

**Thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimed!**

**Hi to everyone who is still reading!**

**The flashback in this, is my take on/answer to (my own question that nobody has probably ever thought about) - 'I don't understand why Prentiss was the one to find Hotch after Foyet stabbed him' - it made way more sense for JJ or Rossi to be the one to find him but I might be alone in that thought, just my opinion...(whywasn'tmyshipfeatured****) **

**Anyhoo, let me know what you think.**

...

Instead of beginning Operation Yellow Brick Road, the team had been focused on a case in Kentucky for the last three days after an UnSub began terrorising the married women of a small community in Laurel County.

It had taken until the fifth disappearance for the team to be called in and there had been four bodies found since they arrived. They knew they were running out of time for the fifth victim to be found alive and there was a constant threat that another, abduction would occur before the next day dawned.

Once the sun had gone down, Reid and Morgan had accompanied the Sheriff on a patrol of the town. The rest of the team were going over the profile again, hoping something would pop out at them from the piles of paperwork and information they had collected over the three days.

JJ was pouring herself a cup of coffee in the kitchenette when Rossi snuck up behind her causing the younger profiler to jump. "You okay kiddo?"

"I'm fine Rossi." She retorted with a shrug before blowing on the hot liquid to cool it.

The acclaimed author turned to look at the Unit Chief at the opposite end of the room going over the town maps and raised a judging eye. "You are?"

JJ followed his eye line before grumbling a response. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Rossi pursed his lips in thought. "I just have the feeling that things are a little tense between you and a certain team leader at the moment."

"There's no tension." She replied adamantly.

"You know it's been on my mind lately about how you two could have had a relationship and for it not to have been exposed before now and Garcia is right, I can't believe we never even had an inkling. I would conclude that it's because you two trained yourselves not to react to stimulus, but I think I know why we didn't stumble across it." Rossi summarised with a sigh.

"We're still talking about that?" JJ scoffed disinterested. "I mean, it's been a week and we're on a case, haven't you got better things to think about."

Rossi glanced back over to where Prentiss and Hotch were looking over the board. "The thing is, Hotch with someone like Emily, I get. She's only a few years younger than him. We all know that their paths have crossed before when Hotch was doing security checks, hell I met her several times during that period. She used to push his buttons when she first joined the team and then they got real close during the whole Reaper thing. She also has chemistry with everyone and everything, I mean she could get a brick wall to fall in love with her by fluttering her eye lashes..."

JJ stopped his rambling with a stern glare. "Is there a point to this conversation?"

"No, no point. I was just chatting." He shook his head adamantly.

"Well I have to get back to work." She retorted quickly.

Rossi stopped her from leaving by staying in her way. "JJ, come on, I didn't mean anything by it. You're just..."

"What?" She spat demandingly.

"Not someone I thought Aaron would fall for. I've only ever seen him in love with Hailey. I could imagine him having a fling with Prentiss but you..." He winced when he noticed the look on her face.

JJ tightened her hold on the coffee cup in her hand angrily. "I really should get back to the victimology."

...

Washington D.C, 2009

The Communication Coordinator stood at the entrance to the hospital with one of Sam Kissinger's men, waiting nervously for the Unit Chief's family to emerge from the ER entrance.

Just as her mind began to wander, the familiar outline of the mother and son emerged, surrounded by a group of witness protection agents.

JJ stepped back as the lead agent ushered everyone away to create a path to the black cars, but was stunned as Hailey stopped and made her way over to the BAU agent.

The usually frosty woman met the younger blonde's eyes anxiously "JJ I..."

JJ stepped forwards and hugged her briefly, stunning them both. "Everything is going to be okay Hailey. Just take care of yourselves."

"You'll make sure Aaron stays safe?" Hailey asked in a whisper.

"Of course." JJ reassured with a nod. "Don't even worry about him, focus on getting you and Jack settled."

"I'm worried." She admitted in response.

The agent tilted her head to the side in sympathy. "I know but this is necessary to keep you all safe.

"Mommy." Jack's voice drifted up from between them.

Hailey blinked down at her son, unsure of what to say and was suddenly grateful when JJ knelt down in front of the little boy and smiled. "You take care of your mom okay, buddy."

"Okay Miss JJ." Jack replied solemnly.

JJ straightened and led the pair to the car waiting at the curb. "We'll see you soon."

Hailey helped Jack into the car before turning back to JJ and smiling her gratitude. "Thank you."

JJ waited until the cars and the swarm agents had disappeared from the hospital parking lot before returning back into the oppressive building.

Morgan and Prentiss were sitting with Reid in his hospital room while Rossi had gone for coffee by the time JJ made her way up to the ICU.

Hovering in the hospital room's doorway, JJ entered quietly and sat by the sleeping profiler. She had felt guilty ever since Prentiss had called from his apartment, telling their teammates that there had been some kind of struggle and their Unit Chief was missing.

The liaison had known something was wrong the minute she had got to work and discovered his office was empty. Instead of hunting him down herself, she had dropped hints to their colleagues all morning that they should be concerned.

Prentiss was the first to take the bait and started to question vocally where Hotch could be. JJ knew it was stupid to manipulate her colleagues in that way, but ever since she had told the team leader she was pregnant, they had kept their distance from each other.

Even though Henry was now nearly one and the two BAU parents had fallen back into their 'just-colleagues' routine, the last thing she ever wanted to do was make his life any harder. Showing up to his apartment unannounced would have been classed as an obstruction of their silently decided contract, to keep away from each other outside of work.

So because of her own insecurities and the former couple's awkwardness, Prentiss was the one to find him and he had been badly injured. He hated being seen as weak by anyone, at least if she had found her, he wouldn't feel embarrassed on top of all the other emotions probably going through his head right now.

"You're thinking too hard." Hotch croaked from the hospital bed.

JJ's focus snapped to the patient. "Did I disturb you?"

"No." He grimaced as pain flashed through him.

Hesitantly, JJ placed her hand on top of his and smiled comfortingly. "You scared me."

Hotch stared at her tiredly. "I'm sorry."

"You should be." JJ joked softly. "You're supposed to be indestructible, remember?"

"I'm a rubbish superman." He wheezed.

JJ smiled comfortingly. "Jack doesn't think so."

His voice cracked as he responded. "Did you see him before he..?"

"He's going to be fine, Aaron. They both are. You did the right thing for them." She reassured as she tightened her grip on his injured hand.

"Maybe you should have gone too." Hotch inhaled unevenly.

"Don't be silly, why would he care we once dated years ago?" JJ scoffed lightly. "Anyway, Foyet couldn't possibly know about us. Nobody here does."

"He's going after the people I love." He argued tiredly.

"Well I'm pretty stubborn and so are you. Somebody has to stay with you, to make sure you don't do something stupid." JJ countered.

"I'm fine, but I'm worried about..."

"Sam will take care of them." She interjected knowingly.

Hotch stared at her solemnly. "I just want to sleep."

"Then sleep." She smiled warmly at him, trying to hide her nerves from the agitated patient.

"I can't." He looked away, feeling overwhelmed by the emotions flowing through him.

"Why don't I stay for a little while?" She offered caringly.

Hotch smiled thinly. "You will?"

"Of course." JJ nodded and watched him fight closing his eyes. She breathed out a sigh of relief as his eyes finally shut and he drifted into an uneasy sleep. "I'll be right here when you wake up."

...

Present day

Rossi approached the table where JJ was scanning through the files containing their victims' personal information. "Look, I never meant to upset you. You know that, right?"

"You didn't upset me." JJ concentrated on the file in front of her instead of looking up at the acclaimed author.

"I did upset you. I can see it in your eyes." Rossi retorted quietly as he took a seat next to the stubborn blonde.

Unable to contain her frustration, JJ's head snapped up to confront the older profiler. "Just do me a favour, stop trying to push my buttons."

"I never intended to make you jealous, especially of Prentiss." He explained in heartfelt.

"I'm not jealous of anyone." JJ said snappily.

Rossi stood slowly, hesitating between consoling the younger woman and pushing her to talk more. "Good."

Rossi hovered over the profiler before backing away to the doorway into the bullpen. "Dave."

He turned to face her apologetic eyes staring after him. "Yeah?"

"What Aaron and I had, it wasn't a fling." JJ said finally after a few seconds of contemplation.

"Of course not, I didn't mean to imply that it was." Rossi's face lit up with a lopsided smile.

JJ sighed in exasperation. "What are you grinning about now?"

Rossi chuckled lightly at her confused expression. "Aaron was in love with Hailey and Beth and hell he may be very gentlemanly and he may care for the women on this team, but the only woman he's ever been possessively protective of is you."

"I..."

"In the many years that I've known him, you're the only woman he has ordered me to stay away from." Rossi continued knowingly.

JJ's face heated up as the experienced agent stared right through her facade. "Oh."

"I should get back to the hotel. We've got a long day tomorrow. Don't stay here too long." Rossi added affectionately.

JJ turned her attention back to the files to avoid his intrusive gaze. "Night Dave."

...

**Thanks for reading! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimed!**

**Hi everyone who is sticking with the story, I haven't forgotten about it, I'm just knee deep in work.**

**(Thanks to Jekkah and Beaglelover719 for understanding my 5x01 plight, I love that I'm not the only one who reads too much into things, like it making no sense at all for Prentiss to be the one to find Hotch. I have a few of these that might be brought up throughout this story, if anyone has annoyances of plotlines let me know and I might address them too.)**

**Also, apologies to MaddieNicole because there is no Hotch in this chapter, but there is a lot of plotting and hello to Helen and OliviaC13, I love reviews especially those saying that you're enjoying the fic.**

**If you have the time, let me know what you think!**

...

Quantico 

Garcia tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the group of profiler's to acknowledge her presence in the roundtable room doorway. Realising they were occupied with their own conversation, the annoyed TA strode into the room and took a seat next to Morgan. "I'm not happy with you four."

Reid shared a nervous glance with his colleague's before clearing his throat to respond. "What did we do, Garcia?"

She looked at her younger colleague in disbelief. "It's not what you've done, Doctor Reid, it's what you haven't done."

Morgan scrubbed his face with the palm of his hand tiredly. "Baby girl, you be crazy."

"Do I have to stress the importance of Operation Yellow Brick Road?" She huffed loudly. "The harmony of our world depends on its success."

"We've just finished a case." Morgan complained loudly.

"And not one of you has kept me in the loop about our Dorothy and Toto." She said disappointedly.

Rossi smirked widely. "Which one is Toto?"

"You all agreed to be a part of YBR and none of you are taking it seriously." Garcia pouted.

"We are PG." Prentiss assured.

"We've been collecting intel, like you asked us too." Morgan stated.

"And?" The impatient woman prompted.

"They're professionals. I haven't heard one thing out of either of their mouths to suggest that they're not anything other than colleagues." Morgan concluded to his close friends' dissatisfaction.

"They're body language suggests they're comfortable with each other but I didn't see anything other than friends and colleagues in their interactions." Rossi concurred.

Prentiss chewed her thumb nail anxiously. "There's been plenty of eye-sex though."

"There has?" Garcia's face lit up excitedly.

"When they think no one is watching they make the eye-nasties." Prentiss expanded with a pleased smile.

Reid nodded in agreement. "I caught Hotch staring at JJ on the plane, he shook his head at me and began reading the case file he was holding onto."

Garcia closed her eyes momentarily before opening them again and facing the team with a nod of approval. "Huh, okay, this is a good start. What else do we know?"

Rossi straightened in his seat and crossed his arms smugly. "I might have something."

"Really?"

He grinned widely. "I think you're going to be pleased with me, Kitten."

"Oh why is that, extra Special Agent Rossi?" Garcia queried curiously.

"I did a little..." He tilted his head to the side in thought, "a little prodding, when we were in Kentucky."

Prentiss eyed the older profiler in disgust. "Eww, prodding?"

"When you and Hotch were going over the geographical profile, JJ and I were getting coffee. I may have used you to make her a little jealous." Rossi retold with a small smile.

Morgan cleared his throat with a cough before speaking. "Did it work?"

"I told her I could see Hotch having a fling with Prentiss but not her." Rossi added.

"Eww." Prentiss repeated once more, screwing her eyes together in disgust..

Garcia frowned momentarily, eyeing Rossi unsurely. "That's a little harsh."

"Hotch is a nice, kind man I guess and sure he'd be loyal and loving, he's a great father and he is good looking, but he's a little stiff for me. I mean JJ obviously saw something in him, so he's not always so stoic but, I don't know, I think it would be too draining to be in a relationship with someone who seems so emotionally guarded." Prentiss interjected sheepishly.

Garcia stared at her brunette friend for a few moments digesting the profiler's words before opening her mouth. "I was talking about Rossi's statement to JJ."

"Oh. Never mind." Prentiss's pale cheeks darkened with a blush.

Morgan chuckled deeply. "No, no princess, we can talk about you and Hotch, you've obviously thought about him before."

"Knock it off Derek." She snarled back in annoyance.

"Oh Princess is touchy this morning." Morgan continued to chuckle at his partner's unease.

Prentiss glared at the other profiler. "Do you want me to kick you?"

"Can we get back on track please?" Garcia turned back to the acclaimed author. "Tell me everything about JJ's reaction."

Rossi shrugged his shoulders. "She got a little quiet. Kept stealing glances over to Hotch and Prentiss and avoided me like the plague for the rest of the case."

"She was hurt." Reid summarised.

Rossi lowered his eyes briefly. "And incredibly jealous, you should have seen the looks she was sending them."

"We can use this." The technical analyst grinned broadly.

Prentiss shook her head slowly. "We don't want to hurt either of them, Garcia."

The younger woman straightened defensively. "We won't but Operation YBR needs every single..."

"What's Operation YBR?" The team turned to see their blonde colleague, and their number one target, standing in the doorway.

Garcia stood abruptly then sat back down in her seat as though she hadn't moved a muscle. "Oh hey, JJ."

"What's going on in here?" JJ asked suspiciously.

"Nothing... we're just... discussing the...erm, next team get together." Garcia answered with a stutter.

"Okay." JJ looked around the table at their wandering gazes before focusing on the ringleader. "What's Operation YBR?"

Garcia's jaw dropped in panic. "It's a..."

"Videogame." Rossi answered. "We're going to get together at my place and play Operation YBR."

Garcia exhaled loudly in relief of the older agent's quick thinking. "We know you and Henry are busy tonight and videogames aren't really your thing, so we didn't think you'd be interested."

"What's the game about?" The blonde profiler inquired in faux intrigue.

Garcia smiled in relief as Rossi replied. "Erm, you won't have heard about it."

"No?" JJ looked at the room at the guilty expressions. "What does YBR stand for?"

"The game is called Operation YBR for, erm for Young... Bunnies... Rebel." Prentiss stumbled for an answer.

Rossi pulled a face before adding to the lie. "Bunnies are the next zombies."

"You know, how zombies were the next vampires, or was it werewolves?" Morgan queried.

Garcia ran her hand through her curled hair anxiously. "The game makes the player a young bunny who rebel against the alien invaders who have occupied their woodland home."

"It's from the developers of Halo." Reid contributed with an informative smile.

JJ sighed before turning her back on the group and wandered away from the briefing room. "I need another coffee."

"You were supposed to be a look out." Garcia swatted Reid's chest with the back of her hand.

Reid startled innocently. "You never told me to be the look out."

"It was implied by where you're sitting with a direct look into the hallway." Garcia rolled her eyes.

Rossi raised an eye to the female profiler sitting across from him. "Young Bunnies Rebel?"

Prentiss pointed to Garcia. "She's wearing a bunny broach. I panicked."

Garcia waved her hands in front of her to stop the direction of the conversation. "Okay I'll create a fake website and outline of the game later but we need to be more careful. We can't have them finding out about what we're up to otherwise they'll never get back together out of spite."

"Okay, so what's next?" Rossi asked.

"We need to know how to figure out more of what makes the react." She responded instantly.

Morgan exhaled with a yawn. "What have you got in mind, mama?"

"Morgan I need you and Rossi to keep on pushing JJ and Hotch. We need information. Why did they fall for each other? What did they love about each other, what did they hate? Why has nothing happened between them since etc?" She instructed conspiringly.

The two men nodded uncomfortably.

"Reid, this might be a little difficult for you but you were closest to him." Garcia shifted in her seat awkwardly.

Reid frowned. "Who is he, exactly?"

"Will. LaMontagne. I need to know if he's going to be okay with us getting JJ and Hotch together. I would do it myself, but I said some unfortunate things to him during the divorce." She blanched in recollection of cornering the Southern detective in the Jareau-LaMontagne's old home as the divorcing couple, packed their belongings to begin their separate lives.

Will was never going to say anything in response to the TA's tirade and she knew it, but she felt the need to defend her best friend and no one was going to stop her in that moment and he had just stood there and listened.

"You want to include Will?" Prentiss enquired in shock.

The suddenly quiet woman nodded. "They were married and Henry will be affected if this works out. I would do it but he probably wouldn't want to talk to me."

"I guess I'll do it if it means that much to you." Reid stated, sensing his friend's discomfort.

"Good. Now I won't explain nor will I ever admit to what my role in the next part of the operation is because it's probably best for you guys to remain oblivious." The group of profilers shared worried glances at her statement.

"What about me?" Prentiss asked nervously.

Garcia's expression softened. "Oh Emily sweetie, Rossi has got you in a pickle."

"Why?" The older profiler swallowed loudly.

"We need you to use some of your sexual prowess on Hotch." Garcia said with a straight face.

"No way. Come on. He's my boss." The profiler looked around her friends for support but found none.

"True, but Rossi has planted a seed in JJ's mind." Garcia explained.

"Will you two stop sniggering, this isn't funny." Prentiss reprimanded Morgan and Rossi who were chuckling in the other corner of the room.

Garcia placed a hand over her friends sympathetically. "It's not as if Hotch is going act on your advancement."

Rossi laughed. "Hotch is pretty clueless about these things, Emily."

She narrowed her eyes at the experienced agent. "Don't Emily me, David Rossi."

"He's only got eyes for JJ." Rossi reassured.

"And it's JJ who is going to notice your behaviour not Hotch." The TA added.

Prentiss winced. "Then she'll hate me."

Garcia shook her head confidently. "She'd have to admit that she cares about who Hotch flirts with first."

"Then what, you think she'll just fall into his arms." Prentiss scoffed. "It's JJ, she's stubborn. Even if she ever admits her feelings..."

"It would only take a little nudge from me to get them back together once they admit it." Garcia smiled proudly. "Trust me, with what I'm "_investigating_," all we need is JJ and Hotch to be on the same page and they'd be back together in a heartbeat."

"Then Operation Yellow Brick Road will be a success?" Reid asked with a small smile as Garcia nodded.

Morgan shivered. "You are creepily good."

Garcia grinned widely. "Thank you my prince. Now I have a video game to mock up."

...

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimed!**

**I have written many versions of this chapter, I don't know why it was so hard to write, but it began to frustrate me. **

**Anyways, thanks for all your lovely comments, (beaglelover719: I wholeheartedly agree with you about Garcia, I prefer her in fanfic form now too, I don't know when she became annoying or her and Morgan's baby girl talk made me want throw something at the TV but now even when I write their interaction I'm continually rolling my eyes because I find it nauseating and more and more ridiculous and so I end up writing it more and more over the top/rant over :P).**

**Let me know what you think!**

...

JJ watched the two agents, over the straw as she sipped the cold frappe. The team had definitely started something, the profiler mused silently, although she just didn't know what their whole game plan looked like at the current moment in time.

Hotch was eating his sandwich seemingly oblivious to their colleagues ulterior actions as the four profilers sat around the table in the briefing room eating their lunch together.

Rossi and Reid had gone with Garcia into the nearby town for something to eat while the others stayed behind chained to their desks.

Prentiss had sidled up to Hotch the minute she had entered the room, discussing her plans for the weekend, which involved a hot tub and some essential R and R. Morgan had quickly joined in, demanding more and more salacious details.

The blonde profiler's eyes widened every time Prentiss's hand skimmed Hotch's arms or she flicked her hair when the Unit Chief glanced her way. The brunette profiler was acting stranger than when she gave up coffee for two weeks. Then there was the number of innuendos and sexually veiled comments would have caused Garcia to blush.

JJ met the Unit Chief's amused expression and frowned. Usually Hotch would have changed the subject by now.

"What about you JJ?" Morgan dragged her out of her thoughts with a nudge to her side.

JJ glanced at the older profiler with a blank expression. "What was that?"

"What are you doing this weekend?" He repeated with a smirk.

"Not much. It's Will's weekend with Henry so, it's probably time for a spring clean and other boring chores." The single mom said in reply.

Prentiss pouted slightly. "Oh that's too bad, you could do with some pampering yourself."

JJ eyed her friend innocently rub her arm softly against the team leader's side as she reached for her drink. Clearing her throat, JJ shrugged nonchalantly. "Well not all of us have a hot tub to enjoy."

"I'm sure Prentiss would more than enjoy your company." Morgan chuckled.

Prentiss threw one of her fries at the senior profiler which he caught and ate. "Jealous that JJ would be invited, and you wouldn't ever be Derek?"

"That hurts, Ms Prentiss." He retorted dryly.

The brunette profiler stood, placing a hand on Hotch' shoulder momentarily when she lost balance. "Oh please, you and your ego for that matter, would be the last person in this department to get anywhere near my relaxation zone."

"Ha, my ego is so big it wouldn't fit in your relaxation zone." Morgan stated with a smirk.

Hotch spluttered his water at his two colleague's interacting. "Are you two finished yet?"

"So I'm egotistical but the other fine men of the BAU, even with all of their lesser qualities, would still be invited over in heartbeat." Morgan placed his hand on top of his heart in faux pain.

"Maybe I would." Prentiss placed her hands on her hips as she vocally sparred with Chicago native.

Morgan turned to the blonde profiler inquisitively. "JJ, what's Hotch's worst quality?"

"Excuse me?" She asked in confusion.

"Oh come on, there must be something that you can tell me so I can come across as an ideal hot tub companion." Morgan reasoned cheekily.

Prentiss rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Oh please."

Hotch was grinning at the sight of JJ's darkening blush across her cheeks as she faced him to reply. "He's kind of anal."

Prentiss choked back a cough as Hotch laughed in response. "I'm anal?"

"Oh man, I got images I don't want, running through my head all of a sudden." Morgan muttered in amusement.

"Everything has to be planned out and structured. He's a clean, neat freak. Have you seen his apartment lately?" JJ expanded quickly.

Hotch wiped his mouth and hands with a napkin before placing sitting back defensively. "What's wrong with my apartment?"

"You have a young son under the age of 10 and not a thing is out of place." JJ scoffed lightly.

Morgan snorted in response. "It sounds like she wanted you dirtier Hotch."

JJ and Hotch stared at each other in a loss for words at the colleague's pandering.

Prentiss smiled as the two wavered in response. "I think cleanliness and respect for surroundings distinguishes a man from boys. Who would want to live in a college dorm for the rest of the lives?"

"Oh really, I'm worse than a college student?" Morgan asked as he stood, leading standing profiler out of the room, mocking her as they went.

Hotch leaned back in chair and met JJ's wandering gaze. "I'm anal?"

"You know you are." She retaliated with a raised eye.

"If I'm anal," he began with a smirk, "that makes you a slob."

"I'm not a slob just because I don't have to colour coordinate my suits." JJ countered with a scoff.

Hotch shook his head in disbelief. "No but leaving clothes and papers strewn all over the apartment does."

JJ copied his relaxed demeanour by resting back in her leather chair. "Hey I know where everything is and it doesn't bother me to see something out of place."

"Right." He said softly.

JJ groaned lowly. "What?"

"Nothing." Hotch tilted his head to the side in thought.

"You have a secretive smile plastered across your face. I want to know what's up." She demanded an answer.

"You really thought I was anal?" He asked.

"It was one of your more annoying qualities, I never said it actually bothered me." JJ explained.

Hotch laughed in response. "I never minded picking up your shoes which were thrown to the other side of the bedroom and I never even dreamed of re-organising your manic filing system."

JJ pursed her lips at his sincerity before changing the topic of conversation. "Either the team are feeling way more comfortable with discussing their out of work activities around the boss or they're up to something."

"I told you, they're going to have some fun with us for a while until something else comes along and they get bored with us." Hotch reasoned rationally

JJ looked around the room avoiding his gaze. "I caught them plotting in here the other day."

"Plotting?" The supervisor queried worriedly.

She nodded slowly. "Well they were up to something. I don't for one moment think they're playing video games about rabbits at Dave's place after work."

"Dave told me the game was about aliens and he was ordering Thai food for everyone." Hotch frowned.

"We both hate Thai food." JJ stated damningly.

"Hence not asking us to join them." He concluded.

"While they're plotting." She added knowingly.

Hotch shook his head at the sound of her annoyance. "JJ, what's the worst they can do?"

"I don't know how far they'd go, that's why I'm worried." She retorted anxiously.

"All they could do is drag up old memories and old feelings. It's not as if we haven't laid our past to rest." Hotch summarised simply.

JJ bit her lower lip beneath her teeth nervously. "I want to believe that you're right."

"Trust me, Garcia will pick up on Morgan and Prentiss' bickering and by the day has ended they'll have forgotten all about us." Hotch reassured optimistically.

JJ stared at him in disbelief. "I'm pretty sure you're delusional and anal."

"Fine, I'll be delusional and anal if you admit you're a pessimistic, stubborn slob."

She laughed croakily. "I'll relent and say I am pessimistic and I am definitely stubborn, but come on, have you seen my desk, it's organised beyond belief."

"Only because Reid had enough of staring at those stacked files everywhere." Hotch countered smugly.

"And in the process he totally screwed up my organisation. I still can't find the Blunders case file." JJ smirked. "So I had to re-organise my files and look down there my desk is spotless."

Hotch glanced behind JJ's head down into the bullpen. "You call that spotless?"

JJ laughed again, snorting delicately in amusement. "Yes."

Hotch chuckled at the sight of his colleague's smile. "I've missed that."

JJ's laughter lessened as she took in his suddenly intense stare. "Missed what?"

"I've missed the sound of you laughing and seeing you smile. It's been a while." Hotch shrugged as JJ's face darkened with a soft blush indicating her sudden embarrassment.

"I haven't had a lot to laugh about lately, with the divorce and all." JJ replied solemnly.

The Unit Chief sighed as the mood in the room shifted. "Well I'm happy you've made it to the other side in one piece. I remember someone once telling me it all gets better, so you must be on the upside of the bad stuff."

"I hope so." She said softly.

Hotch smiled encouragingly. "Seeing as the team have plans and, Henry is at his Dad's this weekend, do you want to come with Jack and I to run some errands?"

"What kind of errands?" The profiler asked hesitantly.

Hotch sat forwards in his seat eagerly. "Jack wants his room painted and I was going to do the sitting room at the same time. I could use a little help with deciding on colours and to stop Jack choosing lime green."

"Sure, I'll come with you if you really need that much help. I could do with some supplies myself." JJ returned his smile softly, grateful for the innocent offer so she wouldn't have to be alone for all of the weekend.

"I really do need help." Hotch said sheepishly.

The practical mom rolled her eyes at his helpless expression. "It's probably best to just take one car, so pick me up on the way?"

"We'll be at your place for 9.30." He instructed before lowering his gaze to his hands.

JJ took a sip of her coffee before she tilted to the side curiously. "What now?"

"It's just..."

"What?"

"This time last year, we wouldn't have been able to do this." Hotch admitted quietly.

JJ's face screwed up in confusion. "Do what? Run errands together?"

"There's that and talking properly and having fun, as friends." Hotch met her baby blue eyes regretfully.

"Aaron we've been good, for years." JJ argued gently.

"We might have been friends, but it was always hard. We've always been guarded with each other, never wanting to overstep or say the wrong thing. I think, doing that, and never actually addressing our past together made it more difficult to spend time with you outside of work." Hotch explained emotively. "Then there's the team. We've been keeping things from them, well before Emily's past with Doyle came to light."

"So now we don't have to lie to our friends, we have permission to get to know each other better as friends?" JJ asked with raised eyebrows.

Hotch sighed lowly. "I think it has more to do with the fact that we don't have to lie to ourselves either. Now we can be friends and get to know each other more as the people we are now while not avoiding who were once were together."

"I can do that." JJ's reply brought a wide grin to the supervisor's face.

"I was hoping you would." He confirmed brightly.

"So, here's to the next chapter of our relationship as friends." JJ tapped her frappe cup against the side of his bottled water in a toast.

Hotch picked up the water to take the necessary sip in agreement. "Friends."

...

**Thanks for reading! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimed!**

**Sorry for the delay, I thought I would have more time to write now, but I was so naively wrong!**

**Let me know what you think.**

...

Prentiss poked her head into the Unit Chief's office as she passed along the corridor. "Do you need the Suarez file now, or will tomorrow be okay?"

"Tomorrow will be fine Prentiss." Hotch replied, concentrating on the file in front of him.

The brunette profiler hesitantly stepped into the office, feeling awkward that he hadn't acknowledged her presence. "You work too hard."

He had a frown on his face as he finally met her eyes. "I just want to get this done so I'm not spending all week working, which would take my time away from Jack."

"How is he?" She asked gently, smiling as a smile instantly broke on the supervisor's face.

"Good, schools better now that he's in a different class." Hotch answered gratefully.

"That's great. It's unbelievable how resilient kids can be."

Hotch nodded, unable to smother his yawn as he glanced to his wrist watch. "It's getting late, Prentiss."

"You really should take better care of yourself Hotch." She stated in concern.

Hotch smiled thinly. "I try."

Rossi stepped into the room with a wide grin on his face. "Hey what are you two getting up too?"

"Nothing, I'm just off home now." Prentiss eyed Rossi uncertainly as Hotch returned to his paperwork.

Rossi's shoulders shrank in disappointment that his brunette colleague had got no further with her Garcia delivered assignment. "I thought everyone had left."

Hotch looked up, to find Rossi still hovering at the back of his office. "Nope, I'm still burning the midnight oil."

"You should get going too, Dave." The Unit Chief pressed.

Rossi frowned. "I felt like I haven't seen you all day. Usually we have lunch together on Monday's and you catch me up on your father-son weekend escapades."

"It was a mundane, nothing out of the ordinary." Hotch stated in reply.

Rossi took a seat in front of the wooden desk and rested his legs out in front of him. "I thought I overheard you and JJ talking about pizza earlier."

"She just wanted to pay me back for lunch." Hotch answered quickly.

His interest rose at the younger man's explanation. "You two had lunch?"

"She helped Jack and I do some shopping at the weekend."

"Huh." Rossi smirked, watching his friend with a knowing look.

Hotch placed his pen down on the desk and faced his long known friend. "What?"

He shrugged. "Nothing."

"David." Hotch scolded the older man with his pointed glare.

Rossi pursed his lips together gently before responding. "Why ask JJ?"

"She had no plans and I needed help picking wallpaper and paints for the apartment." The team leader answered nonchalantly.

"You must like her taste a lot." Rossi smirked at the soft blush which crept up his younger counterparts cheeks. "I mean, you two lived together so you trust her decorating tastes."

...

Seattle, September 2003

Hotch settled onto his back, bringing her head to rest on his chest while he ran his hands through her soaked, golden hair.

The night had got progressively better since they had left work together a few hours earlier. They had dinner and went to a bar for a few drinks, talking about nonsense and everything at the same time. In the Unit Chief's mind, the evening had been perfect, even if they hadn't done anything out of the ordinary. They had laughed, held hands and stolen touches and kisses while enjoying their comfortable relationship.

Hotch twirled a lock of JJ's curled hair around his fingers and grinned in ecstasy. They had to run through the Seattle rain storm to get into his apartment from the car, only to fall in a tangled mess onto his bed. He wondered if her hair was damp from the rain or their enthusiastic love making.

"Wow." JJ exclaimed with a kiss to his chest and stretched her limbs before tucking further into his side.

Hotch chuckled lowly. "You're finally back. I thought I lost you for a moment."

"You're an evil man." She remarked with closed eyes but a wide grin stuck on her face.

"Am I now?" He kissed her forehead lovingly.

JJ lifted her chin an opened her hazy eyes to meet his affectionate gaze. "Yes but you are a talented and sexy, evil man."

"I can live with that." Hotch kissed her deeply, smiling into the kiss as her arms raised tiredly to wrap around his neck.

Her fingers inched up slightly to thread through his short hair. They both moaned as the kiss ended and they lay watching each other. JJ bit her lip when she felt the heat from his intense stare. "Good, I'm pleased."

"But I can't live without you anymore." Hotch stated softly, tightening his hold he had on her lower back to keep her at his side.

"Excuse me?" She tensed in apprehension of where the conversation was heading.

He rubbed her back gently until she relaxed in his hold then explained. "I hate waking up without you next to me. I want us to finally make that plan we've been talking about since last week. I want us to live together."

"Aaron, we can't..."

"Why not?" He asked in a whisper.

"I'm still technically based in New York. Who knows how long I'm going to be here." JJ reasoned while softly tracing patterns on his bare chest with the tips of her fingers.

Hotch glanced down reassuringly. "I'll transfer to New York then. I know you're here for the next few months but if you can't stay here anymore after that then, I'll move back with you."

"You can't." JJ sat up abruptly, keeping her hands on his chest as she looked down at him.

"Why not?" He asked with a smile when his eyes drifted down her body where the bed sheet had dropped.

Sighing, JJ rearranged the cover around her before, lying back on the bed beside him. "I'm not going to be one of those women who make demands on her man so it suits her lifestyle."

"Make your demands, I'll always say yes." Hotch said, manoeuvring so his head was resting against her chest and his arm was loosely draped around her stomach.

JJ felt him snuggle against her, seeking out her warmth. "I want it to be your choice. I'd hate it if you made those types of demands on me."

"Oh really?"

JJ laughed as he nuzzled her chest with his nose. "What about work? If we're here or on the East Coast, you're always going to be my senior agent. The Bureau does have some rules you know?"

"As long as I'm not your direct supervisor then there's nothing... no... one... can... do... about... it." He kissed between the valley of her breasts in between his words.

"We've only been dating a few months." She giggled as his mouth continued to explore her chest.

Hotch's mouth stilled suddenly while he moved further up the bed so his face was hovering above hers. "Nine months, JJ. It's not so sudden."

"What if you don't like living with me?" She pouted unsurely.

The profiler leaned down to firmly kiss away the protruding pout. "JJ, I wouldn't ask you to live with me if I didn't want to live with you."

"Would we live here?" JJ asked hesitantly.

"No, this place is cold and not fit for a glamorous lady such as yourself to live in besides, we couldn't store all your shoes, bags and coats here." Hotch answered with a smirk and kissed her shoulder before resting on his side next to her.

The blonde FBI agent groaned lightly. "I don't know."

"Do you like living in a hotel and out of the dozens of suitcases you keep carting back and forth from Brooklyn?" Hotch queried already knowing the answer due to her constant complaining.

JJ smiled solemnly. "No. It gets boring quickly living in those places"

"Do you love me?" He prompted again, feeling smug as her feelings were obvious in her expressions.

"You know I do." JJ turned onto her side to face him and cupped his cheek with her palm lovingly.

Hotch's smile widened. "Do you want to live with me?"

"Yes."

"So let's do it." He covered her petite frame once more with his larger body.

JJ grinned in response. "It's reckless."

"It's spontaneous." His mouth began a trail from below her ear to her lips and her throat.

"We're moving too quickly." JJ squirmed under his ministrations.

Hotch laughed against her jaw. "I thought the pace was quite nice."

"You're insane."

"But you love me anyway." He retorted quickly.

"Yeah I'll always love you, no matter how many insane ideas you get." She scoffed.

Hotch froze momentarily to meet her glazed eyes. "So we'll look for a place?"

JJ nodded as he continued the exploration of her suddenly alert body. "Sounds like a plan, Agent Hotchner."

...

Present day

"It must have been difficult though." Rossi's voice edged into the Unit Chief's drifting thoughts.

Hotch raised his eyes. "What?"

"Shopping with your ex must have been difficult." The acclaimed author probed.

"JJ and I have been friends for years." He answered instantly.

"I guess." Rossi sighed. "I know I couldn't go shopping with any of the women I've lived with over the years."

Hotch scoffed. "Well that's because none of the many women you've lived with over the years, want to hear your name mentioned in passing never mind actually talk or see you in the flesh, ever."

"You're right, but then again, not everyone can be so civil with their exes, as you and JJ have perfected." Rossi countered smugly.

Hotch rolled his eyes. "That's because we're professionals."

"You're both something alright. I would call it delusional rather than professional." He stated dryly.

"What do you mean by delusional?" Hotch asked hesitantly, unsure he wanted an answer from his elder colleague.

Rossi stood with a tired groan. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."

"Dave." The Unit Chief called out for his team member as Rossi walked out of his office.

Rossi's voice drifted back up the stairs as he made his way to the elevator. "Night Aaron."

...

**Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimed!**

**Sorry for the delay!**

**Let me know what you think.**

...

Morgan sipped his coffee as he strolled into his secluded office, only fifteen minutes late this morning. He was early by his own standards and grinned smugly to himself that he'd be able to hide in his private room and catch up on the previous evenings sports results for at least half an hour before anyone came looking for him.

His glee was quickly reduced when he stepped into his office to see a blur of bright colours paccing the small room. "Morning Baby Girl."

Garcia twirled at the sound of his sigh. "Morning my prince, you're early."

"Are you alright?" He asked while settling his belongings away before taking a seat behind his desk.

She shrugged her shoulders before sitting in front of him. "Yeah, it's just..."

"What's got you stressing?" Morgan raised an eye as he cradled his coffee between his hands.

The frowning Technical Analyst flopped back in the chair dejectedly. "Operation YBR has been on the go for the last six weeks and we're no further along."

"Garcia, you know you can't force JJ and Hotch into a relationship, right?" Morgan queried dryly. "That was never the objective, we just wanted them to open their eyes a little."

The blonde huffed loudly. "I thought..."

The profiler grinned knowingly. "You thought that you'd push them together, remind them of the good times and they'd live happily ever after."

"JJ's right, I do live in a fairytale." She muttered tiredly.

Morgan rolled his eyes. "She was just stressed that everyone knew about her private life, you know she didn't say any of that rose tinted stuff to hurt you."

"I know that." Garcia straightened in annoyance. "Why do they have to be so stubborn?"

"Probably because they know what we're up to." He replied quickly.

Garcia groaned. "So what do we do?"

"Look, I've been watching them closely over the last few cases and it's obvious that they're getting closer." Morgan said encouragingly.

She shook her head stubbornly. "Only as friends though."

He sighed half heartedly. "Yeah they're probably about to get stuck in the friendship zone forever, but at least..."

Garcia stood in panic. "We have to stop them getting there."

"I agree, but what do you want to do?" He prompted hesitantly.

"I don't know. I've been doing some digging around and I have literally found zilch. 2002-2004 was a seriously lacking year online for our power couple. Other than some interesting credit card purchases and a few acquaintances from Seattle that I've managed to track down, nobody knows anything about their time together that could be of any use." She explained in frustration.

Morgan stood and approached his dedicated friend before he brought her into a comforting hug. "Maybe it's time to take a step back and let them figure it out for themselves."

She shook her head adamantly against his strong chest. "No, I refuse to let them two stubborn profilers waste precious time they could be spending together blissfully in love. No, we need to act more firmly. Reid needs to get the courage to talk to Will. You and Dave have to use your brains better, you aren't getting enough useful information."

"Ok woman take a breath, what about you?" Morgan placed his hands onto her shoulders and put some space between them so he could meet her eyes.

Garcia's expression tensed. "Derek, I've done things for this Operation that I can't take back and no-one is ever going to find out about it."

Morgan's eyes widened in uncertainty of how to proceed. "Erm..."

"Prentiss needs to step up her game. Subtle flirting isn't working. JJ won't care if Prentiss sits next to Hotch on the plane making googily eyes at him. Hotch doesn't even notice when Prentiss brushes past him or talks in innuendos." She scoffed in ridicule.

"Emily feels really uncomfortable that you're making her flirt with him." Morgan warned the younger woman instinctively.

Garcia tsked. "Well you and Rossi have to make her feel comfortable. We need her to strike at their hearts and realise they want no one but each other."

Morgan sighed as the TA turned on her heels and headed towards the exit. "Where are you going?"

"JJ needs a little push. I'm going to give her the nudge she desires." Garcia said with flare as she flicked her hair behind her shoulders.

Morgan grimaced. "Penelope you've got the crazy lady look in your eyes again."

"Toodles, my love." She blew him a kiss before practically tap dancing through the corridors towards her objective.

Garcia wandered through the bullpen to discover JJ's desk empty. Looking around the office to locate the blonde agent, she caught sight of the profiler's long legs in her pencil skirt exiting the Unit Chief's office.

Garcia's grin widened as she noted the secret smile, the former liaison had on her face. JJ's happy expression soured suddenly as she saw her best friend staring at her smugly from her desk. "Morning Pen."

Garcia beamed. "Good morning sunshine. Is everything okay with you today?"

"Sure, how are you?" JJ asked as she stopped in front of her best girl friend.

"Fine and dandy." Garcia grabbed her and linked their arms. "Walk me back to my office."

JJ felt the air get whipped out of her lungs as her eccentric colleague turned them towards the double glass doors. "O-okay."

"So how are you doing really?" Garcia asked conspiringly once they were away from the bullpen.

JJ frowned hesitant to respond. "I'm good."

"Good." Garcia chuckled lightly. "Did you know Beth was back in town?"

"Beth?" JJ stopped them outside her former office.

Garcia nodded as she took in her friends evident confusion. "Hotch's Beth. Beth Clemmons. Museum worker, cute, quirky, and athletic, she was the brunette he dated for two years. Is any of this ringing a bell?"

"Why are we talking about Beth?" JJ asked with the 'V' in her forehead deepening.

"Well Anderson saw her in the reception the other day and he wanted the deets. I know you and Hotch have been spending some time together and I thought he might have shared some information in this area." She pressed innocently.

JJ stared at the bubbly woman momentarily before answering slowly. "She wanted to make amends, that's all."

Garcia's eyes widened gleefully. "So he has mentioned anything else about Beth to you?"

JJ sighed before urging the TA to continue walking. "Garcia, we aren't talking anymore about this."

"Okay, I can respect that." Garcia hummed to herself.

JJ caught the grin on her friend's face and groaned. "If you want to know about Hotch's personal life so badly, just ask him."

"You're right." Garcia smirked once more when they reached her office.

JJ leaned against the wall while Garcia inputted the access codes. "Can I go back to my desk?"

Garcia pushed the single mom into her office forcefully. "I just have one more question. What do you think about friend's dating friend's exes?"

JJ turned in annoyance. "What is up with you? Has Rossi been giving you sherbet again?"

"No, I've just got this..." Garcia paused slightly in thought, "friend, who has this growing attraction to someone who she's known for a long time. She's never really thought of him other than a colleague or a friend before but recently she's seen him in a new light and has felt sparks between them. The only problem is that he's a friend's ex."

"He's a friend's ex and they work together?" JJ quizzed unsurely.

"Yeah, but work romances are easily overcome, don't you think?" Garcia pushed.

JJ sighed lowly. "Pen, who exactly, are we talking about here?"

"I couldn't reveal that under the Friendship Act of 2006, but I know that these two colleagues would make a good couple. It's just the friend that she's worried about." Garcia stated vaguely.

Reluctantly, JJ replied with a shrug. "OK. I mean friends generally don't date friend's exes, but if they're all mature adults I don't see why they couldn't get passed it if there are no residual feelings from anyone involved."

"I disagree, I mean when Kevin and I were broken up and I caught him on a date with Gina, I felt betrayed because one of them should have told me before hand so I didn't feel blindsided. I now dislike Gina more than anyone because of their lies."

JJ rolled her eyes. "Pen, you've forgiven both of them. You went to the cinema with Gina last week and besides you're back Kevin and are happier than ever."

"But we might have made amends sooner if that unfortunate incident never occurred. How would you feel if Hotch started dating me?" Garcia asked.

JJ sniggered. "Hotch and I have been over for years, Garcia. If you want him, have at it."

"But still he's your ex." The TA said solemnly.

The profiler leaned against a desk. "Yeah but it's not as if we both haven't moved on already."

Garcia clip-clopped over to her chair and watched the younger woman as she spoke. "I guess but my friend seems to think her friend still has feelings for her ex."

The former liaison weighed the options silently before speaking. "Does the friend of your friend still have contact with her ex?"

"They all work together." Garcia announced lightly.

JJ's mind connected the dots and she grumbled accusingly. "Penelope is this your twisted way of trying to push me towards Hotch, because of all the talking of Prentiss and Hotch lately is getting a little too much to stomach, I mean what exactly are trying to do, get me to...?"

"Shhhhhh." Garcia stood quickly, flapping her hands in front of JJ before facing the door. "Good morning, Emily."

"Morning PG. Hey JJ." Prentiss greeted warmly as she entered the small office.

"Hi." JJ smiled thinly before eyeing the TA in disbelief.

Garcia returned her smile widely. "Email me your response about that issue, okay sweetums?"

"You're insane." JJ retorted with a shake of her head.

Garcia giggled. "I'm only insane about you sunshine."

Prentiss laughed at their exchange as JJ left the room. "What am I missing?"

"Operation Yellow Brick Road is about to heat up to an adult's only certificate." Garcia conspired with a wicked glint in her eyes.

Prentiss bit her lip nervously. "What?"

"Morgan and Rossi want to talk to you at some point today." The blonde haired agent instructed sternly.

"What for?" Prentiss' puzzled expression made the younger woman chuckle.

Garcia calmed her laughter slightly. "Smooth talking 101."

Prentiss moaned quietly. "Kill me now, please."

...

**Thanks for reading!**


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